Mao (F. & S. II.91)

The most famous person in the world

The idea came from Warhol's Swiss dealer, Bruno Bischofberger. He wanted Warhol to return to painting with a portrait of the most important figure of the 20th century, and suggested Albert Einstein. Warhol countered with Chairman Mao, whom he called the most famous person in the world, judging by how often he turned up in Life magazine.

The timing was hard to beat. President Nixon made his eight-day visit to the People's Republic of China from February 21 to 28, 1972, and Mao was on the cover of Life on March 3. Warhol started the series that March.

His source was the official portrait of Mao by the Chinese artist Zhang Zhenshi, the image printed in Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, the Little Red Book. Warhol once remarked that the only picture the Chinese ever had was of Mao, and that it looked like a silkscreen. The portrait had been printed by the millions as propaganda, and screenprinting it again was the joke.

Ten Maos, 250 times

The 1972 portfolio contains ten screenprints, each 36 inches square, catalogued in the Feldman & Schellmann catalogue raisonné as II.90 through II.99. Each sheet was printed in an edition of 250 plus 50 artist's proofs by Styria Studio in New York and co-published by Castelli Graphics and Multiples, Inc. A complete portfolio, numbered 146/250, was offered in New York in May 2024 with an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000.

One auction catalogue notes something unusual about the project: it was the first time Warhol made an editioned screenprint of an image before painting it. Over 1972 and 1973 he went on to make 199 Mao paintings in five sizes, from 11 canvases of 82 by 62 inches in March 1972 up to four monumental canvases more than 14 feet tall.

Each print in the portfolio is a different color scheme. In II.91, Mao's face is cool blue and white against a pink-to-salmon ground, with yellow and green on the collar and tunic. The lips are pink and the mole on his chin is dark, which one writer compares to Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark. Warhol let the colors slip out of register around the eyes on purpose.

Pop art meets the Cold War

In 1972 China was still in the Cultural Revolution, and Mao's portrait was a tool of state propaganda. In the United States, a communist leader was an unlikely thing to sell to collectors. Nixon's trip changed the mood almost overnight, and Warhol's Mao landed in the middle of it.

The images were shown in Basel in October 1972 and at a New York gallery in November 1972, then in Seattle and San Francisco in January 1973. In February 1974 the Musée Galliera in Paris hung Mao portraits against Mao wallpaper.

That same year Warhol's printmaking took an overtly political turn, first with Richard Nixon's grimacing face in Vote McGovern, a print sold to raise campaign funds, and then with Mao. Critics read the Mao series as a comment on two systems that both ran on mass-produced images.

What II.91 sells for

Mao prints come to auction often enough to track. One market tracker records 31 auction sales of II.91 since its first appearance in 1998, with hammer prices over five years ranging from £23,096 in October 2023 to £43,763 in September 2022.

In New York on October 24, 2022, impression 5/250 sold for $44,100 against an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. In London on September 19, 2024, impression 46/250 sold for £34,290, more than double its £15,000 to £20,000 estimate. Another impression, number 9/250, was offered online in New York in April 2024 with an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.

The paintings live in another world. A 1972 Mao painting set a then-record of $17.4 million in November 2006, one sold for $47.5 million in New York on November 11, 2015, and one once owned by Yoko Ono brought $32.4 million in November 2017.

How to identify one

A standard impression is signed in ball-point pen on the reverse and numbered with a rubber stamp out of 250. It also carries the artist's and printer's copyright ink stamps on the back. Artist's proofs are signed and numbered in pencil, and some in ball-point pen. The paper is Beckett High White, and sheets are full-margin at about 36 by 36 inches; one tracker lists 92 x 92 cm.

Because the portfolio was split up long ago, II.91 usually turns up alone. Sheets with dedications exist: one II.90 impression sold in 2025 was inscribed by Warhol 'Happy Birthday Dagny.' Posters and later reproductions of the Mao images also circulate, so the stamps and signature on the verso matter.

The numbers

Medium

Screenprint in colors on Beckett High White paper

Dimensions

36 x 36 in (91.4 x 91.4 cm); one source lists 92 x 92 cm

Edition size

250 plus 50 artist's proofs

Catalogue raisonné

Feldman & Schellmann II.91 (portfolio II.90-99)

Printer

Styria Studio, Inc., New York

Publisher

Castelli Graphics and Multiples, Inc., New York

Timeline

1. Feb 21, 1972

   Nixon arrives in China for an eight-day visit and meets Mao Zedong.

2. Mar 3, 1972

   Mao appears on the cover of Life magazine.

3. Mar 1972

   Warhol begins the Mao series, on Bruno Bischofberger's suggestion.

4. 1972

   The ten-print Mao portfolio is printed by Styria Studio and co-published by Castelli Graphics and Multiples, Inc., in an edition of 250 plus 50 proofs.

5. Oct 1972

   The Mao images are shown in Basel.

6. Nov 1972

   Mao exhibition at a New York gallery.

7. Feb 1974

   The Musée Galliera in Paris hangs Mao portraits on Mao wallpaper.

8. Oct 1982

   Warhol visits Tiananmen Square and sees the original portrait in Beijing.

9. 1998

   II.91 makes its first recorded auction appearance, per one market tracker.

10. Nov 11, 2015

    A 1972 Mao painting sells for $47.5 million in New York.

11. Oct 24, 2022

    Impression 5/250 of II.91 sells in New York for $44,100.

12. May 22, 2024

    A complete Mao portfolio, 146/250, is offered with a $600,000-$800,000 estimate.

13. Sep 19, 2024

    Impression 46/250 of II.91 sells in London for £34,290.

The world in 1972

• Jan 30, 1972

  Bloody Sunday: British soldiers kill 14 unarmed civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.

• Feb 21, 1972

  Nixon begins his visit to the People's Republic of China.

• May 26, 1972

  Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow.

• Jun 17, 1972

  Five men are arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate.

• Sep 5, 1972

  Eleven Israeli athletes are killed by Black September at the Munich Olympics.

• Nov 7, 1972

  Nixon defeats George McGovern in a landslide.

• Dec 7, 1972

  Apollo 17, the last crewed moon landing mission, launches.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Mao (F. & S. II.91) is number 59 of 100 in the art entries of the FLOAT 100. 88 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (63 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Bischofberger first suggested Albert Einstein. Warhol picked Mao instead.
• The Mao portfolio was the first time Warhol made an editioned print of an image before painting it.
• Vote McGovern and the Mao portfolio were the first prints in which Warhol's freehand drawing appeared.
• Warhol made 199 Mao paintings in five sizes, and a further black outline work turned up after his death.
• In October 1982 Warhol stood in Tiananmen Square in front of the original portrait.
• Beijing kept 10 Mao portraits out of a 2012 touring Warhol exhibition in China because of their political sensitivity.
• Drake hung Warhol's Mao II.94 in his home and showed it in his 2020 'Toosie Slide' video.